there's a serious risk you are going
to, as it were, kill innocent
people.

0:53:08

0:53:14

It was cases of miscarriages
of justice like these

0:53:17

0:53:20

that persuaded many in government
that Britain could never reinstate
capital punishment.

0:53:20

0:53:25

In 1994, the last free vote
took place in Parliament
on reintroducing the death penalty.

0:53:28

0:53:34

It was heavily defeated,
with Home Secretary Michael Howard

0:53:34

0:53:38

now voting in favour
of retaining abolition.

0:53:38

0:53:42

For a long time,
I supported capital punishment,

0:53:45

0:53:48

because I thought it was
a deterrent,

0:53:48

0:53:51

and actually I still think it is
a deterrent,

0:53:51

0:53:56

but I changed my mind, because
of the risk of a mistake.

0:53:56

0:54:01

It was the cases of the Birmingham
Six and the Guildford Four

0:54:02

0:54:07

that changed my mind on that.

0:54:07

0:54:10

I accepted that you could never
completely eliminate
the risk of mistake

0:54:10

0:54:15

and since then, I've become adverse
as well to the whole idea

0:54:15

0:54:21

of the state deliberately
taking someone's life.

0:54:21

0:54:24

But it wasn't until 1998,
when the Labour government
passed the Crime and Disorder Act,

0:54:28

0:54:33

that the death penalty was
completely removed from British Law.

0:54:33

0:54:37

Up until then, executions
could still be carried out
for treason and piracy.

0:54:38

0:54:43

Later that year, the Court of Appeal
quashed the 1953 conviction
of Derek Bentley

0:54:45

0:54:52

and he was posthumously pardoned.

0:54:52

0:54:54

By 2010, 139 countries
had abolished the death penalty.

0:54:56

0:55:01

We are seeing a greater polarisation
in the world.

0:55:09

0:55:14

We are seeing a wide gap
between the mental make-up

0:55:14

0:55:21

of those people in the countries
that oppose the death penalty

0:55:21

0:55:27

and the people in the countries
that see no problem with it.

0:55:27

0:55:34

Surprisingly, the country that
has the highest cases of capital
punishment per capita is Singapore.

0:55:35

0:55:41

But it is believed the country that
executes the most people per year
is China.

0:55:42

0:55:48

The trouble with China is that
it's still a state secret

0:55:50

0:55:53

and the party will not reveal the
number of people sentenced to death
and executed. So we have no idea,

0:55:53

0:55:58

really, how many people
are put to death there.

0:55:58

0:56:01

But at the UN Human Rights Council,
at the end of 2007,

0:56:01

0:56:07

the Chinese delegate
made a statement

0:56:07

0:56:13

that China was reducing
its use of the death penalty

0:56:13

0:56:18

and was setting plans to do so, with
the ultimate aim of abolishing it.

0:56:18

0:56:24

Now, this is a statement
really from the state, the state
authority, that abolition is a goal.

0:56:24

0:56:30

We haven't heard that from
the United States, I'm sorry to say,
from a State Department.

0:56:31

0:56:36

But even in America today,
the use of capital punishment
is a lot less widespread.

0:56:39

0:56:44

It's also true that, amongst the 35
states that have the death penalty,

0:56:44

0:56:47

about a third never use it,

0:56:47

0:56:49

another third impose death sentences
but rarely carry them out,

0:56:49

0:56:53

and the death sentences that are
carried out

0:56:53

0:56:55

are typically in one region of the
nation, that is to say the South.

0:56:55

0:56:59

These days, more than
half of the death sentences that
are executed occur in Texas.

0:56:59

0:57:05

So, is America a death-penalty
nation? Well, in parts.

0:57:05

0:57:09

In 2010, those American states which
continue to use the death penalty
have been challenged over whether

0:57:11

0:57:18

executing an individual in a painful
manner infringes their human rights.

0:57:18

0:57:23

This debate could see the end
of the death penalty in America.

0:57:26

0:57:30

But its supporters have gone back to
18th-century ideas of punishment

0:57:30

0:57:35

to defend the right to execute.

0:57:35

0:57:37

To say that it has to be painless
is to lose sight of what it is,

0:57:38

0:57:43

which is punishment.

0:57:43

0:57:45

In its etymology,
in its very meaning,

0:57:45

0:57:49

the word "punishment"
comes from the same root as "pain".

0:57:49

0:57:54

It is, in its essential conception,
painful.

0:57:54

0:57:59

If it is not painful,
it is not punishment.

0:57:59

0:58:03

When killers intentionally,
or with depraved indifference,

0:58:03

0:58:08

inflict intense pain and suffering
on their victims,

0:58:08

0:58:13

in my view, they should die
a quick but painful death.

0:58:13

0:58:17

Not torture, not drawn out,

0:58:17

0:58:20

but quick and painful.

0:58:20

0:58:22

The debate about capital punishment
has raged for over 200 years.

0:58:24

0:58:28

Both sides believe
they are in the right.

0:58:31

0:58:35

And if the history of
capital punishment has taught us
one thing...

0:58:35

0:58:39

..it's that both sides will continue
to fight their corner, passionately.

0:58:41

0:58:46

To challenge your views and learn
more about the justice system,

0:58:57

0:59:01

go to bbc.co.uk/justice and follow
the links to the Open University.

0:59:01

0:59:07

Timeshift digs into the archive to trace the extraordinary story of the ultimate sanction. At the beginning of the 19th century you could still be hanged in Britain for offences such as stealing a sheep or shooting a rabbit. Even children as young as seven were sent to the gallows. The last hanging in this country took place as recently as 1964.

By opting for a dispassionate history rather than staging the usual polarised debate, the programme breaks new ground with its fascinating attention to detail, such as the protocols of the public execution or the 'science' of hanging. With contributions from both sides of the argument, it provides an essential guide to a subject that still divides us.